“In a word, what I'm saying is, grow up. Your kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” ~ Matthew 5:48 MSGThe other day I was walking through this room. No one was here, and I was on my way to that kitchen right there to see if anyone had rece…

It’d be a lot easier if we all pulled the same lever, just a lot easier. I'll trade that in any day of the week. There's only one problem, if you have that you don't have the church you've got a group, you've got a click, you've got a hobby club, but you don't have the church. Because, the church by definition is this mess of messy people all over …

“Our life together as the community of followers of Jesus is the most powerful proclamation of Jesus we can make” ~ Mike LuekenFor people to hear that proclamation they have to be invited in. And so, Jesus sends us out to be hosts, to practice hospitality. The practice of hospitality has been one of the most foundational practices of the church sin…

The Bible tells us that God deeply cares for people. He wants none to perish. He wants all to know him and live with him; rulers of Rome, thieves on the brink of their own death, Roman guards, Jewish peasants, the blind, the rich, the sick, the powerful, the person you named when we started. None is too far gone. No one is outside God's loving reac…

What better way to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, who changes lives, than to have people in our life actually see Jesus transform us. Actually, see Jesus transform our character. I mean imagine when the people to whom I have been sent notice that where I used to be consumed by worry there actually now is peace. When the people who could see my addic…

Paul writes, "and so it was with me brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching we…

It's the picture my friend sent me of the flames at the end of his street, that keep me up at night. And again, this is not just the case for the people that I know in Southern California. It is the case for people everywhere, all around the world, all the time. Every major catastrophe, every downward trend, every systemic issue in the world from h…

Epiphany sets in front of us the reality that Jesus Christ claims to be King of everything, and everywhere, and every person, and every moment. And all of His truth, goodness, holiness, righteousness, love, mercy, grace and beauty saturates every square inch of His reign. That’s just a really good reminder to savor and soak in here at the beginning…

All the time, Jesus the Messiah, the one born King of the Jews and of the entire universe for that matter, lay helpless as a baby born to a poor unimportant family, lying in obscurity, literally just a few miles away from Jerusalem. And however tempting it might be to look at Herod, and the Magi, and Snicker, and comment, like the emperor that wasn…

Advent, in other words, is a time for wondering and marveling at the Christ child and a time for wrestling with the mystery of life's hard questions like, how, and why, and when? And just to wrap this up, this is not some psychological cathartic purge so we can really enjoy Christmas dinner. This is our faith in action. This is the Christian faith;…

God speaks to whomever he wants to speak, about whatever he wants to speak, whenever he wants to speak to them. The message isn't about how to make God speak to us more. What we're talking about here is how to put ourselves in a posture to listen. To hear when he speaks. And I don't know about you, but if I am predisposed to not want to do what God…

Seems to me Jesus, by his example, prefers a table at the back of the restaurant. He prefers the obscure. The small places. The small people. The small things. So, he works his plan through a carpenter named Joseph. A teenager named Mary. Some Shepherds working in the fields. A little town called Bethlehem. An atmosphere of poverty, powerlessness, …

The story that Luke chooses to begin his telling of the coming of Messiah with, is the story of a couple waiting. And sure, like with everybody else, they are waiting for the coming of the Messiah. Like everybody else in the Jewish Community was in those days. But more personally, Zachariah and Elizabeth are waiting for something else. They're wait…

This Faith thing is a we thing not just a me thing. But today we remember that Jesus breathed on each of his disciples. John, Peter, Simon, Matthew and all the rest were filled with His Spirit. Each had a transformational encounter with God and ongoing experiences with him for the rest of their lives. Their lives were never the same. Everyday life …

Jesus sends the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit judges the world and the verdict is guilty and that has implications for the particulars of our lives here at the end of 2024. If Jesus and his way, and His Kingdom, truth, and goodness are true north, the way things are supposed to be. The way God intended them to be. The way God wants them to be. T…

Sometimes we wish God spoke more often and more clearly to us about the specifics of our lives. What major should we take in college? Is this the right job? Is this the right marriage partner? Should we move to a bigger house? What President should we vote for? Should I retire? What should I do after I retire? And a million other particulars that w…

The other thing that Jesus points out here, is that the focus of the Holy Spirit's communication, his speaking, isn't in the direction of the Father, but it's in our direction. In verse 26 Jesus says, “But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to …

The holy spirit is here with us right now, comforting us, guiding us, teaching us, challenging us, and yes even correcting us and telling us when we have missed the mark. You see, the Holy Spirit isn't simply God's afterglow or Jesus's afterglow. We'll talk about people in our lives who aren't with us physically, but we'll say stuff like, “well, yo…

A scandal in the Bible is something that causes us to stumble, to trip. A scandal in the Bible then is a rock sticking up ever so slightly, in the middle of the trail, and we don't see it, but our left foot clips it as we walk by, and we stumble, and we might even fall down. 1 Corinthians 1:23, Paul writing, “…. we preach Christ crucified: a stumbl…

Christian hope is bound to the resurrection of Jesus. When you read the Bible on hope, you find hope very close to language about the resurrection. 1 Peter 1:3, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…..” The Ne…

From Mark 5:24-34, “So Jesus went with them. A large crowd surrounded and pressed around him.” Feel the claustrophobic crowd pushing in. Hear the cacophony of voices calling out. Smell the bodies pressing together and sense the excited uncertainty about what Jesus will do next. “A woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. S…

Matthew 13:31–32, “Jesus told them another parable: “” The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.””There are a whole bunch of things we coul…

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